Handbag



Patented Aug. 5, 1941 NITE I) STAT PATENT F "F LC'E HANDBAG George L. Meyers, Norwalk, Conm, .assignor ,to. Meyers Manufacturing 00., New-York, a.

partnership consisting of George L. Meyers; Henry Meyers, and Samuel -Meyers, all of Norwalk, Conn.

2 Claims.

This invention relates to handbags and has particular reference to devices such as inner purses therefor.

One object of the invention is to provide a handbag having a plurality of individually openable inner purse compartments mounted as a pivotal unit and arranged'so as to be so compact as to occupya minimum of space in the handbag.

An inner purse compartment of the pivotally mounted .type, after long usage, hasbeen found to be the most popular and is considered to be the standard form of equipment in respect to inner purses for ladies handbags. Such a purse is formed with hingedly interconnected frame members, supported at the bottom pivotal ends at the hinge joint of the handbag frame to bring the mouth of the purse into convenient close relation to the mouth of the handbag for easy accessibility to the interior of the purse. This relatively high position of the purse requires that it be swingable to one side or another to expose articles lying on the bottom of the handbag.

I perceived the utility of providing a plurality of .inner purses pivotally mounted, but upon reflection, such an idea at first appeared to be impractical. The advantage of a plurality of inner purses, so that one of them could, for example, be used as a billfold was clean-and alsothe advantage of the centralized location of such purses. But the bulkiness of the resulting inner purse unit, with its obstruction of the mouth of the handbag seemed to be a very considerable drawback.

For instance, if individual frames were used for the purses, the total frame thickness wouldbe quit-e excessive. If hinge frames were not used, the advantages of the pivotal and high position mounting would be lost. Hence the idea atfirst appearedto be impractical.

Thereafter'I devised'the present structure,"by"

combining a hinge frame purse with a'slide fastener purse, and mounting the latter on the former, so thatIproduced a common pivotal mounting'for both purses, with the further advantage of high position, and at the same time, providing individual closures for the purses, and maintaining at 'a minimum the overall thickness of the rigid metallic frame structure involved.

I then perceived the importance of providing ample -flexibility of the inner purse unit for accommodation of articles disposed in the different compartments, and'for yieldabilityin respect to the contents of the handbagand upon swinging movement of the purse unit. For this purpose, I

disposed the slide fastener purse within the 1 boundaries of the hinge frame of the companion purse, at least to the extent of being placed below the top section of said frame. While this lowered somewhat the mouth of the slide fastener purse, it maintained thinness, and even permitted the. mouth portion. topartially nest below said frame.

It is therefore .anbbject of the invention to providea devicewhichshall avoid the drawbacks mentioned and accomplish the advantages above noted.

Other objects and advantages of .the invention willbecome apparentv as the specification proceeds.

Withtheaforesaid .objects in view, the invention consists. .in .the novel combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described, in their preferred embodiments, pointed out in the subjoined. claims, and illustrated in the annexed drawing, whereinlike partsare designatedby the same reference. characters throughout .the several views.

In thedrawing:

Figure l .is atopzplanviewofa ladies, handbag in partially open position, showing-the improved doublepurse unit, embodying the invention.

Fig. 215 a verticalsectionallongitudinal-view of the:handb,ag, sho.wing.the. double purse unit in elevation therein.

Figs. 3 and dare sectional-viewstaken on the respective. lines. 3 .3.-and Afid of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is. a fragmentarysectional topview of a device, showing the slide fastener pursev in. open position.

The advantagesof the inventionashere outlined are best realizedwhen all of itsfeaturesand instrumentalities are combined in. one and the same structure, but, useful-devices maybeproduced embodying. less. than the whole.

It will vbeobviousto those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, that the same may be incorporated inseveral different constructions. The accompanying. drawing, therefore, is submitted merely as showingthe preferredexemplificationof the invention.

Referring in detailvto the drawing, It denotes a device embodying the invention. The same may include a ladys handbag II which may compriseany suitable ba body I2; and any desirable closure means, the latter preferably including a pair. of inverted, U-shaped channel frame members I3, hingedly interconnected as at I4 by conventional pintles at, I5 upon which the inner purse structure may be pivotallymounted. Thebag body I2. may be stuffed .or clamped in the. frame members I3, and. may have gusset-like folds at I6 to facilitate expansion of the bag body for full opening thereof.

Pivotally mounted on the pintles at I5 is a purse I'I comprising ,a suitable frame structure for a purse, body I8, desirably'comprising a plurality of. U-shaped inverted channel frame ,members I9, in which the purse body may be stuffed or clamped for securement. The frame members I9 may be hingedly interconnected by the pintles at 5 for movement toward and away from each other to open and close the purse ll. Any feasible closure, which may include the conventional snap lock 2Q may releasably hold the purse l'l closed.

Associated with the purse [1 or the frame members l9 thereof, is a secondary purse 2| having a purse body 22 and a flexible slide fastener closure 23. The arrangement is such that the purses H and 2| provide a unitary inner purse structure 2d embodying the invention.

While the specific nature of the purse interconnection may vary, I prefer to employ the arrangement and construction herein shown. Thus the purse body 22 of the slide fastener purse may comprise an inner wall 25 and an outer wall 26 connected into the bottom seam 21 between the walls 28, 29 of the purse body l8. At its opposite ends, the inner wall 25 is preferably stitched to the wall 28 at 30, whereas the outer wall 26 is preferably stuffed or clamped in the arms of the frame members I9 for securement therein at the upper portion of said wall 26. The lower portion of the wall 26 may be secured into end seams of the purse body H3 in the same manner as indicated at the seam 21. It will be understood that the securement of the Wall 26 in the channel members l9 may be accomplished simultaneously with that of the purse body 18, and

that the specific seaming arrangement between the purses l8 and 2i may be varied to suit.

The slide fastener closure 23 may be of any well known type. I have obtained the best results with a fastener wherein each set of hooks 1 is replaced by a coil spring, the coils of one of the springs being somewhat bent to interlock with the other spring coils between which they nest. The slider 3| is adapted for controlling interlocking of a slide fastener.

With the coil spring slide fastener, the purse 2i may assume the relatively Wide open contour shown in Fig. 5, in open position. One of the coil springs remains relatively fixed, as against the other which bows outwardly due to its resilience, to expand the gusset portion 32 of the wall 22, provided for that purpose.

Relative expansibility between the purse pockets l8 and 2!, and adaptability for accommodation of handbag contents, are aided by the space 33 provided between the walls 25 and 28, formed by slightly contracting the wall 25 longitudinally. The space 33 may afford an auxiliary pocket, closed at its ends and bottom, but permanently open at its top. Both purse bodies l8 and 22 are undercut as at 3-- to clear the gussets [8, in this highly compact bag structure.

Referring again to the purse l1, it will be appreciated that the top portions of the frame members 59 are quite close to the top portions of the frame members l3. Thus the mouth of the purse i1 is readily accessible when this purse is open, for easy removal of contents. This is produced by the high positioning of the purse H, by mounting the ends of the frame members IS on the hinge pins 15 of the frame members l3.

In consequence, the slide fastener purse 2i is also given a relatively high position, although its mouth at the fastener 23 is somewhat lower in order to permit the slide fastener to fall in closely alongside of the purse body 18, or even to nest under the top portion of one of the frame members H! for thinness and compactness. Accessibility in a high degree to the interior of the slide fastener purse is obtained. In fact, by reason of its primary use as a bill fold, it is better that the mouth of the purse 2! be lower.

Thus the purses I! and 2| constitute the inner purse unit 24, formed with individual wholly external closures, but nevertheless mounted on a frame structure which pivots for swinging movement of the purse unit 24 to one or another side of the handbag, and with both purses thus maintained in high position,

I claim:

1. A device including an inner purse structure for a ladys handbag, including a bag body having end gussets in the lower portion thereof, a frame having U-shaped frame members having top portions and downwardly extending arms, pintles above said gussets hingedly interconnecting said arms at their lower ends and projecting outward of the frame members to pivotally support the frame on said bag body, a first purse body connected to the frame members, said purse body being openable and closeable by the latter, and a second purse body supported by one of the frame members and being disposed alongside of the first purse body so as to be pivotally supported as a unit with the latter, the second purse body having inner and outer Walls connected to the first purse body at the bottom thereof, the inner wall being stitched at its ends to the first purse body and being free of the latter at the top to form an intermediate pocket, the frame members having channels in which the first purse body is clamped, the ends of the upper portion of said outer wall being clamped in the channels of the adjacent frame member, the ends of the lower portion of said outer wall being stitched to the first purse body, the bodies 'of both purses being undercut below the frame members so that the length of the lower portions of the purse bodies is less than that of the upper portions thereof so as to clear said end gussets, a slide fastener closure for the second purse body in external relation to the first purse body, said slide fastener being below the top portions of the frame members and being located wholly between the arms of the latter, and a gusset at an end of the upper portion of the second purse body.

2. A device including an inner purse structure for a ladys handbag, including a frame having U--shaped frame members having top portions and downwardly extending arms, pintles interconnecting said arms at their lower ends and projecting outward of the frame members to pivotally support the same, a first purse body contom and ends, the upper portion of the inner wall being stitched to the first purse body and the upper portion of the outer wall being secured to the adjacent frame member, a slide fastener closure for the second purse body located below the top portions of the frame members, and a gusset for an end of the second purse body.

GEORGE L. MEYERS. 

